Daughter of the Sea
by Refuse to Conform
Summary: Shelly thought she was a normal 12 year old. But when she finds out she's a half-blood, her life is flipped upside down. What kind of trouble will she get into with the blood of two gods flowing through her veins?


_This story takes place right after Percy and the gang recovers the Golden Fleece in The Sea of Monsters. Clarisse is on her way to camp by plane, and Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson are with Chiron and his kind before returning to Camp Half Blood._

I was running for my life. And I wasn't doing too well. I was out of breath, and the _thing_ chasing me was getting closer. It was a giant snake, some 20-30 feet long. It hissed at me and bared its huge fangs. I dodged trees and leapt over rocks, but the snake was still advancing. I picked up a rock and chucked it at the thing, but that just seemed to annoy it. All around was dense forest. Then, I spotted a clearing up ahead. It looked as if people were camping. I could hear voices and the clomping of hooves. If I could just get to the clearing, maybe they could help…

Before I go on, I should tell you a bit about myself. My name is Shelly Pearson. I'm twelve years old, and I live with my mom, Meredith, in Boston, Massachusetts. This year I went to school at Miss Schroeder's School for Girls. It was as awful as it sounds. I guess every school is awful for me because of my ADHD and dyslexia. My mom says they're more important than I think because she has them, too. To me, they just make life harder.

` Since I finished school without getting kicked out (like I normally do), my mom surprised me with a trip to South Carolina. It was so nice to get out of the apartment. I love Boston, but my mom and I live on the grungier side of town in a rundown apartment building with a bunch of smelly bachelors in their 30s. I don't know why we choose to live there. My mom is manager of sales at Burberry, so we can afford better, but she insists on this gross apartment. Whenever her dad, my grandpa, visits, he always says, "Meredith, you can do better." And she always replies, "Dad, you know I can't."

So anyway about half way through summer we left Boston and drove down the coast to South Carolina. We spent the week shopping, laying out at the beach, and relaxing. It was nice to spend some time with my mom because I don't get to see her much during the school year. She's my only family, besides my grandpa who lives in Connecticut. They're the only two blood relatives I know, since my grandma left my grandpa when my mom was born and my dad left my mom when I was born. My mom and grandpa have the same kind of rotten luck, and I'm pretty sure they passed that down to me. Despite their bad luck, they're the two most important people in my life.

Unfortunately, the trip had to end. We were at a gas station that was almost totally surrounded by woods, filling up on gas and snacks for the long trip ahead of us. I came out of the bathroom on the side of the building. All of a sudden, I heard a hissing noise. I turned and saw a giant snake slithering around from the back of the building. I froze. It kept coming at me, focusing on me with its red glittering eyes. I backed up off the sidewalk, and it pursued. I was nearly to the forest now, getting farther and farther away from the car and my mom. I was trying to think of a way to get back to the car when the snake lunged. I kicked it from the side (where did _that_ come from?) and it fell to the ground. In a split second it was coming at me again, and I had no choice. I turned and ran, deeper and deeper into the woods, the snake right on my tail.

So then I finally saw that clearing I was talking about before. I burst through the last gate of trees and felt soft grass at my feet. The snake was still after me. I didn't have much energy left and my legs were shaking. Then, I heard the _pops! _of paintball guns and the slithering sound behind me ceased. I slowed and turned around to see the huge snake crumble into dust and disappear. I stopped in my tracks, mouth hanging open. I looked around to see who shot it. It was some men on horses…no wait… men who _were_ horses. I blinked and tried to snap out of it, but it was real.

"Oh man, I'm going crazy," I muttered as I paced. There were four regular people there too, I noticed while pacing. Then I noticed one of them was wearing some weird furry pants. But they weren't furry pants. They were the legs of a goat. I groaned and sat down in the grass with my head in my hands.

"Oh dear," one of the horse-men said, "Python. This is not good. We must get out of here."

"Well we can't just leave her here," one of the regular humans said. She had blonde hair and stormy gray eyes.

"No, she must come with us. Come brethren, let us pack up and head for camp."

The rest of the horse-men obeyed and started cleaning up, collapsing stables and tents with the push of a button. The leader and two of the humans walked towards me. I got up quickly, eyeing them warily.

"What is your name, child?" the horse-man asked me.

"Shelly," I said, my voice wavering. "Shelly Pearson. Look, I just need to get back to the gas station and find my mom…"

"Yes, we most certainly will need to tell your mother," he said as he stepped into a metal box. Suddenly, where his horse half had been, was a wheelchair. He looked like a normal person.

"How did you—"

"Best not ask too many questions yet, child. Now, let's go find your mother."

The horse-man in a wheelchair, two of the humans, the goat boy, and I traced back to the gas station, where my mom was standing outside her car, looking worried. I ran to give her a big hug.

"Oh, Shel, I was so worried! I had no idea where you were! Don't ever run away like that again!" She squeezed me and stroked my dark hair. Then she noticed the man in the wheelchair and the three kids with him. She instantly let go, shocked. "Chiron, what are you doing here? You found her? I didn't think she was ready…"

"She found us, actually. She was being chased by Python. If a monster such as that was chasing her, she is in grave danger. She must come to camp with us immediately." The man in the wheelchair I assumed to be Chiron studied me.

"Mom, how do you know him?"

"He was an instructor at my old camp, a camp that you get to go to now, too. I have to take my car up, but I'll meet you there, I promise."

"What are you saying? You're just going to leave me here with these people?"

"Shelly, you'll be safe in their care, safer than with me." I had a hard time believing that at first, but then I remembered how they killed that snake, Python. I sighed.

"I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, Shel." She hugged me really hard and kissed the top of my head. "I'll see you really soon, okay? Now get going before something else finds you."

I followed the group back into the woods, turning back once in a while to see my mom waving us good-bye.


End file.
